John let Gabriella out of her bedroom. He said "Take a look through that
window. What do you see?" "A forest." she replied. Then, she spotted her
parents. "My mom and dad! What are you going to do to them?" Gabriella
shrieked. "They will be punished." replied John.
"What did they do?" questioned Gabriella. "What did they do?" yelled John.
John cooled down. "I tell you." he said "My brother is Erik. We never knew
each other existed. I found out one day. He was hideous; but he was my
brother whom I loved. Everyone hated him, except me. Finally, he ran away;
and I followed. Eventually, he built the Paris Opera House with trapdoors.
I built some of my own. We stayed down here. One day, he found Christine.
She was beautiful as her singing. He loved her. He pretended to be the
Angel of Music. She loved Raoul though. Finally, he kidnapped her. Raoul
and the Persian followed. I scared them off. They must have come back a
different way and rescued Christine because later I saw Raoul and Christine
running off together. I swore I would get revenge and I will"
"My mother told me that story, but I didn't know it was real. You have the
last part wrong. Erik let them go out of free will." "Why should I believe
you?" asked John, "What proof do you have?" Gabriella sat silently. "Do you
know what kind of forest that is? It is an African forest. It will get
hotter and hotter until they die or hang themselves." said John with a
sinister look on his face.
This was too much for Gabriella. She wept and wept. John was laughing. His
laughter died along with his smile as she continued. It was as if she was
an angel crying. She was so innocent and pure. His heart softened. He then
knew she was telling the truth. "Don't cry." he said, almost crying, "I'll
let them out."
John turned off the light and opened the door. Gabriella raced in. "Mommy!
Daddy!" she cried as she ran over to give them a hug. John apologized. He
did not know that they didn't hate Erik until now. He said they could go
free. "Why don't you come with us? Start over." said Gabriella. "Yes," said
Christine, "You can stay with us for as long as you need to." "I would love
to," replied John.
